Standing Tall
Photograph: Ukrinform/REX/Shutterstock
It was a brilliant deal put together by Trump and it is amazing that Zelensky could not or chose not to see it. The mineral rights deal gives the United States a vested interest in protecting Ukraine against Russia’s further expansion into that region while also preventing those minerals from going to Russia or China. And Russia will be less likely to try to expand west with the United States presence there. It is a win all the way around, except for maybe Zelensky himself.
Zelensky knows that if the war ends with this peace deal where they concede some of the disputed lands that would be viewed by many in Ukraine as a defeat and help ensure that he loses the next Presidential election. So Zelensky is extending this war to hold onto power. He only wants a resolution to this war that would ensure his re-election, and the sad part is that he will never get it, and some delusional people in this country think he can.